A Short Leash Read online

  “I can practically hear you thinking, Sierra,” he said. “Go to your room and scheme there. Perhaps this afternoon you will be in a better temper.”

  Sierra went to her room as he had told her. There was little point in directly defying Kade, but indirect defiance was always an option. Once in her room she dressed in the best sneaking-around clothes she had. She had long ago discarded the silk clothes the citizen had provided her with and instead wore what Kade had on hand, of which there was rather a lot. She selected a green tunic and dark underwear, eschewing pants altogether. Then she opened her door, went to her belly and began crawling across the floor. In such a fashion she could move practically silently and she did so all the way down the hall and through the living room. She did not know where Kade was, but she kept an eye and an ear out for him as she went, face pressed flat to the carpet as she listened for his steps.

  “Ow!” Sierra screeched as a hand came down across her bottom hard. She looked up and saw Kade towering over her. How he had moved so silently was a mystery to her, but was probably just one of his hunter tricks.

  “This is not your room,” Master Kade said. “Naughty girl.”

  There was warmth in his voice even as he chided her. He did not seem truly angry at her; he seemed amused.

  Sierra rolled over onto her back and looked up at him. “I wanted to go out.”

  “You knew what you needed to do if you wanted to go out,” he said. “But now you’re going back to your room for the rest of the day to think about what happens when you disobey me.”

  A pout established itself on Sierra’s face. “The rest of the day? The whole day?”

  “Yes,” he said. “The whole day. That’s what happens when you’re disobedient. There are consequences.”

  “I don’t want to go to my room.” She looked up at him under lowered lashes. “Are there other consequences?”

  “What do you mean, you little brat?”

  Sierra sighed. “I mean is there something else aside from sitting all alone in my room all day long? Something that is less lonely?”

  She had spent far too much time shut out in the cold and even though her room was no cold yard, being separated from Kade for long periods of time was unpleasant. Even going to bed at night alone was sometimes more than she liked, but she made sure to fall asleep quickly so it would not seem as long until she saw Kade again.

  “Less lonely,” he said. “Yes, there are consequences that are far less lonely.” He sat on his favorite couch, the one that was long enough that he could stretch out on it comfortably, and patted his thigh. “Come up here and lay yourself over my lap.”

  Sierra was up and in position before she thought about what the consequences might entail. To be close to Kade, to have his strong body pressed against hers was more reward than punishment. Even when he put his hand on her bottom and swatted her lightly, she still wasn’t concerned. She stretched out with a little sigh of contentment and closed her eyes as his other hand ran up and down the length of her back in a slow massage.

  “You make punishing you a difficult proposition, you know that? You’re almost too sweet to be spanked.”

  Sierra smiled and turned her eyes to him. “Then don’t spank me.”

  “I said almost,” he reminded her, swatting her bottom. “Sometimes it’s the sweet ones you have to watch.”

  With that, he whacked her bottom hard three times, catching the lower part of her cheeks with each stinging blow. Sierra gasped as she was jolted against his thigh, the little nub between her legs igniting with excitement.

  She would never have told Kade as much, but she liked being spanked. She liked how it felt to be held over his lap. She liked how her pussy clenched and tingled whenever his hand landed. She even liked how his voice sounded as he growled gentle chastisement down at her. Master Kade was not rough or cruel; he was firm and some of the slaps landed with enough impact to leave her bottom tingling for several minutes but at that moment they only served to make Sierra’s hips squirm against his leg, arching her hips forward so her clit received the perfect amount of pressure needed to turn pain to pleasure.

  “I’m not sure you’re learning all that much from this,” Kade drawled, palming her bottom for a moment. He rubbed gently, massaging some of the sting into her cheeks. “I think those panties need to come down.”

  Sierra lifted her hips as he peeled the soft fabric from her bottom and settled it right beneath the rise of her cheeks. There was something exciting about the way he bared her and yet did not, keeping the pouch of her pussy covered as his hard hand returned to her now bare cheeks, spanking them over and over with firm swats that made her grasp at the arm of the couch.

  It was just as well her pussy was covered, for if it had been bare he would certainly have seen moisture welling between her lips. The more intense the spanking, the more aroused she became, letting her legs part with each slap so she could grind herself harder and more shamelessly against his leg.

  “Sierra,” he said, suddenly pushing her panties down to mid-thigh. “What is the meaning of this?”

  She froze, hearing what sounded like censure in his tone.

  “You’re soaked,” he said. A moment later, she felt his fingertips drifting over the seam of her pussy lips, coating themselves in wetness. Her wetness. “Do you think I spank you so you can gratify your naughty cunt?”

  His words were hard and almost harsh, but the circling of his fingertips around the entrance of her body softened the message.

  “I think you need to be mated,” he said. “Or at least tended to down here. I cannot have a horny pet distracting herself when she should be paying attention to her lessons. Stand up and bend over the back of this couch.”

  Sierra did as she was told. Kade came around behind her, fastened one hand on the back of her neck and speared his bare cock inside her with a long thrust that made her squeak in surprise as he started fucking her with hard, rough thrusts. There was no foreplay as such, no tender kisses or romantic words. There was just his hard cock sliding deep inside her soaking wet cunt with enough force to make her rise up onto her toes.

  “My naughty pet needs a different kind of punishment,” he growled, leaning down to bite the back of her neck, his arm snaking around her upper body as his hips pounded against her hot bottom. He pulled her up almost to a standing position and fucked her hard and fast, pounding her pussy. Grinding against the back of the couch, Sierra’s clit was also given the same treatment, her body disciplined and pleasured at the same time.

  His large hand cupped and held her breasts, the other on her hip, pulling her back so she had the full benefit of each and every stroke. That meant she could no longer wriggle herself against the couch and her throbbing clit went unsatisfied as Kade pushed himself deep inside her until his cock pulsed against her cervix.

  All of a sudden he pulled out, leaving her wet and needful. “Down,” he growled out, pointing to the floor.

  Sierra sank to her knees as Kade stroked her hair, took hold of the back of her head, and aimed his cock toward her mouth. She was more than willing to part her lips, her fingers going between her thighs to rub herself to climax as Kade began to use her mouth as he had used her pussy. It was probably supposed to be a punishment of some kind, but Sierra loved how it felt to have his hot hard rod spiced with her own scent sliding in and out of her mouth.

  While she was distracted, she didn’t take careful notice of what Kade was doing. One hand was in her hair, but it slid down and a second later she felt the collar latched about her neck. She tried to make a sound of complaint, but Kade shook his head, his aquamarine eyes flashing warning as he kept her speechless with the application of his cock over her tongue.

  There was nothing Sierra could do. She had been fucked and collared and her fingers were rubbing desperately at the wet nub of her clit as she suckled on Kade’s pulsing cock. Her tongue lashed around the head of him, tasting the first droplets of his salty semen. A second later, Kade began to spend himse
lf. The rush of his seed triggered her orgasm, her fingers working hard against the nub of her clit in desperate circles until she too felt a release, though it was not as powerful as it would have been if he had provided it.

  “You weren’t meant to cum,” Kade said, taking her hand to draw her up to her feet.

  “You didn’t say that,” Sierra shrugged with a little smile as he slapped her bottom lightly.

  “I suppose I didn’t,” Kade admitted. “Put your clothes on. We’re going out.”

  *

  Though collared, Sierra could not keep the smile off her face. She was immensely satisfied with being outside as the cool air wrapped itself around her, lifting her spirits immediately.

  “This compound covers several acres,” Kade informed her. “It’s surrounded by thick walls, so there’s no opportunity to get into the wilds proper, but, and this is a big but, once you pass that fence,” he pointed to the crisscrossing wires just barely visible a few hundred feet off, “there will be both predators and prey. I keep this place as close to the wilds as possible. There are real dangers here.”

  Real dangers. Oh, how she had yearned for real dangers every day she was locked in that little yard. Citizens did not like danger. They insulated themselves from it at every turn and instead amused themselves with noisemakers and brightly colored visual machines. Every night, Sierra had watched as her citizen owner and his wife sat before a rectangle of material about three feet wide and two feet high and just stared at the flashing images until they fell asleep.

  Kade’s compound was not truly wild, but she could scent that what he was saying was true. Being a wild one, her senses were more keenly attuned to nature than citizens’ senses. They may as well have been blind, deaf, and dumb compared to a wild one. To a citizen the shimmering fence was probably hidden in the greenery, but to her it stood out like a sore thumb.

  Sierra stood very still, drinking in the wonders of that outdoor space. She thought she could smell rabbits, foxes… and something else… something she couldn’t quite place. The smile faded as she realized she didn’t know.

  “I can’t… why… I can’t scent the…”

  “It’s alright,” Kade said, putting his hand on her shoulders. “You were incarcerated for a year. Your wild senses have diminished. They will return in time and with practice. Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry?” Sierra’s voice rose to a panicked pitch. “I might as well be blind! I can’t scent anything. Some rabbits, that’s it!”

  “The enclosure contains a lot of animals,” Kade said. “No large predators, but there are plenty of medium-sized equally dangerous ones, and serpents too. For the moment, I want you to stay in this garden, away from the animals. It has been a long time since you were allowed into the wilds and it’s likely that your body isn’t as strong as your mind anymore.”

  “I am strong!”

  “I’m not saying you aren’t,” he explained patiently. “I’m saying you’re used to being able to run almost as fast as a gazelle, climb as adeptly as a monkey, and fight with all the fierceness of a tiger. But you just spent a year in confinement without proper nourishment. Your muscles will not be what they once were. It will take months to restore their old strength.”

  Sierra looked at him doubtfully. She felt strong. Weeks of good food and relaxation had left her feeling very well. How dare he say that she was no longer fast or agile or able to take down prey? She would show him.

  There was a large tree next to the house. It stood twenty times taller than Sierra at least and was clothed in thick branches covered in smooth bark. To a citizen it was just a leaf-dropping inconvenience; to Sierra it was a stairway to the stars.

  She ran to it, planning to scoot the ten or so feet to the first branch, take hold of it and propel herself up from there onto the roof of Master Kade’s house. That would show him. She grabbed hold of the trunk, wrapped her arms about a third of the way around it, and put her feet to the bark. In the past she would have been able to haul herself up it easily with a run-up, but she found her hands slipping and her feet scrabbling and instead of a grand ascent she slid unceremoniously down onto her sore bottom, landing with a yelp at Kade’s feet.

  “You might try listening to me and believing what I say,” he said mildly. “You will need training to get back to your old strength.”

  Sierra’s eyes filled with tears, not because the landing had hurt, but because she had lost so much more than she realized. Her health, her looks, and even her strength.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, reaching down to run his fingers through her hair in a way that soothed her. “You will be back to your old self before you know it. Your mind remembers how to do these things and your muscles do too, they just need a little more care.”

  She nodded and blinked back the tears. She was tired of crying and feeling sorry for herself. It was time to work, not whine.

  “There is more to be done,” Kade said. “I’m going to train you as a house pet, so you will be able to have the run of the house and have as much freedom as possible as well as being able to perform basic chores.”

  Sierra snorted. “I have long dreamed of performing basic chores,” she said, her voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. “Do you think, if I work very hard, I might one day be able to make beds and clean floors?”

  Kade lifted a brow at her, suddenly looking quite stern. Sometimes she forgot the real nature of their relationship—him as master, her as pet—because he was friendly and gentle most of the time. But he could remind her without a word. All it took was body language and energy to let her know that she was getting ahead of herself.

  She looked up at him, then down at the ground. Annoyance began to set in. She did not want to be a house pet. She had no interest in chores, or anything to do with the way citizens lived.

  “Sierra, I can feel your defiance from here,” Kade drawled. “I think you might need a nap. There has been a lot of excitement today.”

  “I am not sleepy and I am not tired,” Sierra refused. “I am unhappy, and I don’t think sleep will fix that.”

  “It may not, but going to your room will prevent you from getting into trouble,” he said. “You’re heading for it, Sierra, and I don’t want to have to smack that bottom of yours right now. I don’t think you’d like that very much.”

  “I don’t think I like anything very much,” Sierra replied. “I haven’t liked anything in a long time and I am tired of not liking things. I am not going to be a pet anymore. I am my own person and I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.”

  “Sierra,” Master Kade said. “Everyone has to do things they don’t want to do. Life is made up in large part of doing things we don’t want to do. For instance, I don’t want to have to take my best leather to your behind, but if you don’t check your attitude I will do it anyway.”

  Sierra set her features in a scowl and stayed where she was, her buttocks safely pressed against the ground.

  “I’ll leave you out here for a little bit,” Master Kade said. “Maybe the outdoors will calm you down. Remember, stay away from the fences.”

  He went inside and almost instantly Sierra crept to the fence line, looking over her shoulder to make sure Master Kade was not watching. He would almost certainly punish her for disobedience. When she was certain that he was not watching, she touched the fence and was promptly kicked by an unseen horse. Swearing, she retreated from the wire, clutching at her hand. There was definitely no horse in sight, but something had dealt her a serious whack.

  Sierra tried the fence again with much the same result. It was more painful the second time around. She pressed one hand to the other and swore vengeance against the invisible beast beating her. She knew somehow this had to be connected to Kade, so she sought him out to tell him precisely what she thought of his aggressive fences. She found him inside the house, watching one of the moving pictures citizens enjoyed so very much.

  “That was mean!”

  “Hmm?” He raised a brow at
her.

  “Your compound is attacking me,” she frowned, rubbing her hand against her thigh.

  “You’ll have to be a little more precise, Sierra.”

  “The fence kicked me. You made it kick me.”

  “The fence is electrified, Sierra, that’s why I told you to stay away from it. Which you clearly didn’t. You must be getting your strength back; you’re becoming extremely defiant.” He patted his lap. “Come here,” he said. “It’s time for you to go over my lap, my girl.”

  Sierra did not agree that it was time to go over his lap. She thought it was time to go back outside and make another attempt at climbing the tree. Propelled by the desire to avoid a spanking, she managed to actually make it up into the lower branches, an achievement she followed with a loud shout of triumph.

  Master Kade came out and stood below, his arms folded over his chest as he looked up at her. “Well,” he said. “Looks like you just needed the right motivation. Don’t think this means you’re out of trouble.”

  “I’m not in trouble,” Sierra said. “Because I’m not going to come down. I’m going to live up here.”

  “Sierra, don’t be ridiculous,” he said, his tone lowering as he became serious. She was learning something about him. He truly did not like to be disobeyed. “If I have to get you down from there, you’re not going to be a happy pet.”

  “I’m not a happy pet now!”

  It wasn’t entirely true. Sierra was experiencing her first rush of physical prowess in a long time. She had almost forgotten how good it felt to be able to move throughout the world with grace and speed, and to look down on those who weren’t as gifted.

  “Sierra. Down. Now.”

  She might have obeyed the order if she thought there was any way he could enforce his will, but she was well out of his reach. Walking along the edge of the roof, she let her foot dangle over the side with each alternate step.